Promise
by SweetSearene
Summary: Hiccup's arrival is overdue, why is he late? Astrid's worried about him, not afraid; because Hoffersons are never afraid, right?


**Hello! Happy late Christmas to you all and I hope you enjoy this one shot.**

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Astrid sat beside her dragon in the stalls.

"He promised he'd be here yesterday," she muttered to herself, "Ugh! I shouldn't have let him go on that damn chief meeting with Stoick."

Stormfly looked at her frustrated rider.

"Sorry girl, but he promised. He swore on his life! He's been gone for a month now, and who knows what he could be doing!?"

The blue dragon shook her head, disappointed that she still didn't trust her mate.

"Ugh, you too!? I trust him, Stormfly. It's just that... well, we're eighteen now, and it's like I seem to trust him less every time he's away," she admitted.

A blonde-haired girl raced into the stall, "Astrid! A ship! A ship! It might be them!"

Astrid stood up abruptly, "What? They're here?"

"Yeah! Well, at least Snotlout thinks so. So there's a fat chance that's another ship… carrying other people."

Astrid looked past her friend to see a boat on the ocean nearing Berk, "It has to be them."

"Well what are you waiting for!? Let's go already!" She said, and the two Vikings raced towards the dock.

"Please be him, please be him. Odin, why can't ships go any faster!?"

Astrid sighed and looked out to the vast ocean. The ship was close, it was nearing quickly. Yet Astrid felt like it was going an inch a decade. She closed her eyes, thinking it would go faster if she didn't look. She opened them and frowned, no such luck.

"This is ridiculous."

"The ship's almost here," Ruffnut assured her, "Only a bit longer."

"I know, it feels like a decade already, though," she mumbled and looked out to the ship again; it was still out of reach.

"Why don't you trust him? Seriously Astrid, you know him better than that."

Astrid turned to her friend in frustration, "I know Ruff! He just…. Promised me that he'd be back yesterday."

Ruffnut put a hand on Astrid's shoulder, "Astrid, that's so not the reason," she smiled.

Her eyes went wide, "What do you mean?"

She snorted, "You're _afraid_," she teased.

"I'm never afraid of anything! Never! The Hoffersons—no, _Astrid_ Hofferson is never afraid."

"You're afraid he's gonna walk off that ship with another girl in his arms, aren't you?" She continued, "You're afraid that he forgot all about you, Astrid."

The headstrong girl crossed her arms, "N-no. Well… I don't know! I don't know if I'm afraid, alright! It's that I don't _want _to be afraid!"

Ruffnut embraced her friend, "Astrid, its ok to be afraid. Hey, even I'm afraid to sometimes."

"Really? You? Thortsons tend to be more like joke-around-in-a-serious-situation people."

"Yeah, I know," she smiled, "but ever since Tuffnut left to get married and stuff, I can't stop thinking if he died or something corny like that."

Astrid shook her head, "I'm sure he's alive. But I still don't know about him."

"Well, you're about to find out."

"What?"

"Told you it would only be a little bit longer."

"What?" She turned to the docks.

She gasped, a ship had stopped. _The _ship had stopped to be exact. The ship carrying _him _to be exacter.

"He's here…"

A black dragon flew off the ship, but the most noticeable thing was his rider, a rusty-brown haired boy.

Astrid walked up to him slowly, unsure if she was dreaming or not, "Hiccup?"

He smiled and leapt of his dragon, "Hey Astrid!"

Her eyebrows furrowed and she punched his arm.

"Well, that's another way to greet me…" he said, rubbing his surely bruised shoulder.

"That's for not staying with our promise, _Hiccup_."

"I'm sorry," he frowned sheepishly, "you know what happens when people serve too much mead to Vikings… especially my dad."

"You made me worry! Can you believe that?"

"Astrid, why exactly would you worry about me? I have Toothless and the Outcasts have been quiet for years!"

Ruffnut smirked, "She was worried you were cheating on her."

Astrid rolled her eyes, "Thanks Ruffnut, you're a great friend."

"You thought… what? Astrid, you know I wouldn't do that; that would be the last thing I would think of. If I did, I would be dead the minute you'd find out!"

She frowned, "Is that the only reason why?"

"And I loved you ever since I was eight."

"See Astrid? Really, you need to think more often," Ruffnut said.

"Ever since we were eight?"

"Yes; look, I'm sorry I broke our promise."

"I just wanted to celebrate Snoggletog together. The last time we did that was four years ago, Hiccup. You always had to go away on some stupid errand."

"We can still celebrate Snoggletog."

"How? That was yesterday already."

"Here, I got you a gift," he handed her a small wooden box.

She took it, opened the box and took the gift inside and lifted it up. "It's a necklace…"

The necklace was made of some sort of metal, surely made with great care. Its chain lead to a small blue jewel unfamiliar to Astrid, meaning it had been found someplace far from their small home island.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

"It's beautiful, Hiccup, I'm speechless. Thank you."

"I made it on the ship whenever I had spare time. Here," he said and took the necklace, placing it carefully around her neck.

Astrid turned around, "I… didn't get you anything. I didn't know you were coming today."

He grinned and brought her into an embrace, "That's fine; I didn't want anything this year."

Astrid looked into his emerald eyes, "Happy Snoggletog."

"Happy Snoggletog Astrid."

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**Awww! First ever cheesy moment!**

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**Fave. Review. And drink eggnog!**


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